10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Truly great TV but only 18.5" not 19" as advertised
I bought this TV because my 20" LG that I use in my home office was going out. I figured that if I was going to buy a new TV I might as well get the latest technology. I picked this one because of Vizio's reputation. When I hooked it up I was truly amazed at the picture quality. I own 4 HDTVs and have replace all of them at least once, so I have owned at different...
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Great HD picture, problematic TV tuner
I agree with the other reviews, but would add a warning about the TV tuner.
On the plus side, the 720p and 1080i HD picture quality is amazing, very bright and sharp with good contrast. The sound is perhaps the best I've ever heard from a low end TV, with more volume than I could ever use. I haven't had a chance to try the digital photo frame feature or...
I agree with the other reviews, but would add a warning about the TV tuner.
On the plus side, the 720p and 1080i HD picture quality is amazing, very bright and sharp with good contrast. The sound is perhaps the best I've ever heard from a low end TV, with more volume than I could ever use. I haven't had a chance to try the digital photo frame feature or the pause live TV feature, but they are both nice to have if they work as advertised. The remote control allows you to access all features.
However, I will be returning the set because of problems with the TV tuner. As I read on another web site, the tuner is annoyingly slow when changing channels. Each time you use channel up or channel down the screen goes blue for about 2 seconds, and sometimes 3 before the new channel is displayed. If you jump to a channel by entering the number from the remote's keypad you will stare at the blue screen for 4 to 5 seconds.
If slow channel changes were the only problem I would just learn to live with it due to the amazing HD picture and sound. Unfortunately there are two other tuner problems, one of which is a too much for me.
First, there is a minor issue where if you punch in a non-existent channel number by accident the input buffer is not cleared until some period of time well after the unit has gone back to displaying the current channel number. I.e., you punch in a wrong number, the unit eventually reverts to displaying the current number, but then when you try to enter a correct number again the digits from the previous attempt are still in the input buffer and they get added to the new number you are trying to enter. You end up having to just sit and wait for some period of time (10 - 20 seconds) before you can enter a new channel number.
I suppose I could also learn to live with that. But what I can't live with is a completely broken 'last' feature. On the VM190XVT they should call this feature the 'Las Vegas' button because when you press it you are just rolling the dice and you have no way of knowing which previous channel it will revert to.
I've spent around 2 hours trying to figure out how to beat this error. At first I thought 'last' worked correctly for channels you went to by using the channel up/channel down buttons, but not for direct entry. This wasn't true. Then I thought it was related to the period of time between channel changes. Perhaps if I left each channel selected for some minimum period of time between changes I could get the feature to work. Not true. Then I tried direct channel entry only, both with me triggering the channel change by pressing 'Ok', and with the TV deciding when it was time to jump to the new channel. Still broken. Then I thought perhaps it had problems with 'dash' channels, like '13-1', but not with base channels like '13', so I tried base channels only. Made no difference. Over a long period of time I tried many combinations of all of the above. Nothing worked reliably. 'Last' will sometimes revert to the most recent previous channel, but most of the time it doesn't. It will also become stuck on a channel for no obvious reason. It then stays stuck until you select a new channel while viewing the stuck channel. Weird.
I would be interested to hear about other people's experience with 'last' on the VM190VXT. I don't know if this is a general problem, or if I just have a buggy tuner. Regardless, this unit is going back.
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Update: I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Vizio tech support. It is their opinion that the problems I see are caused by a bad remote control and they offered to send a replacement. I may or may not pursue that option. I have no desire to get stuck with this unit if that doesn't fix the problem and my return window closes.
Those that are experiencing the menu pop-up problem should see if it always happens after you have used the remote. The remote could be causing the problem.
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Final update: The replacement remote came in the mail today. It didn't fix anything, all problems listed above with the 'Last' feature and direct channel entry are still exactly the same. I give up, this unit has permanent problems and I am returning it for a refund before I get stuck with it.
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I bought this TV because my 20" LG that I use in my home office was going out. I figured that if I was going to buy a new TV I might as well get the latest technology. I picked this one because of Vizio's reputation. When I hooked it up I was truly amazed at the picture quality. I own 4 HDTVs and have replace all of them at least once, so I have owned at different times 1 projection LCD, 1 Plasma, and 6 CCFL backlight LCD TVs. The picture on this TV is truly great. The standard definition channels look almost as good as the HD channels did on any other HD TV I have owned and the high definition looks so real one would think they were looking out a window. I remember how impressed I was with my first HD TV, well this TV made an equal impression on me over my prior HD TVs.
I only rated this TV 4 stars because of two facts. The first is mentioned in the title. That is the fact that it really only has a 18.5" screen. I figured stepping down from a 20" to a 19" would not be too big a sacrifice but stepping down to an 18.5" proved to be too much so I returned it and bought the 23" Vizio LED LCD HDTV instead. It is virtually identical to this one except for the larger screen, (in fact they use the same owner's manual), and the fact that it is 1080P where this one is 720P. The second annoyance with both models is the fact that the volume bar does not go away when the sound is muted. I remains until you un-mute the TV. This annoys me, but is livable considering everything else.
The biggest advantages to LED LCD over CCFL LCD are the power consumption, the expected life of the backlight, and the picture quality. This TV is advertised as only drawing 23W but my UPS tells me it only draws 18W. The weakest link to a CCFL LCD TV is the backlight. It is what goes first most of the time, but LEDs last virtually forever so I will have to see what the next weakest link will be that will cause me to have to replace this TV. I expect this TV to last for at least five years before needing replacement, but time will only tell.
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1. Vizio on screen controls lower left, keep popping up, stay 15-30 seconds on
screen, then pop off screen for 1-5 seconds, then just keeps repeating.
This activity is inconsistant, seems to be triggered when using exit
button. Also, the exit button does not clear this control but it eventual
stops, only to return when turning TV back on.
2. all channels above 100 have extensions, ie 101-2311, 102-49,102-5011 etc.
does not recognize the cable designations and cannot have name assigned to
3. 3 second channel change exccesive
4. no ability to create favorites menu for quick access to channel
5. cannot enter channels above 99 on remote
6. this is first remote i've used that does not have a designated "menu" button.
Using "OK" to access menus is annoying and confusing. put Menu and Exit
buttons just under the OK cross, better for true one hand operation
7. I know the TV is a Vizio, i don't need the Vizio LOGO for 5 seconds at turn
on.
While the HD picture is perfect, having great video on a kitchen TV just
isn't worth the irritation factor This is a return, unless Vizio has a
firmware upgrade that is easily installed and that solves these problems
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after getting out of box, physical setup of that great picture I saw in the store a bit time consuming. You have to play around with the video settings to get everything looking great. Default picture wasnt too good compared to now..I fiddled around for about 20-30 minutes with contrast etc. Now set up great TV; it does come with remote, but not very reactive
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The Vizio VM190XVT is so close but no cigar. Amazing pictures at the price point FAR superior to the competition but Vizio fumbles the ball at the one yard line.
No STANDBY provision when used as a computer monitor. When computer goes to sleep the monitor shows a bright BLUE screen. Not energy conscious.
The power cord supplied with the Vizio VM190XVT has a BRICK to drop line current down to the low voltage this TV requires. Rather than place the brick in the middle of the power cord where it won't interfere it was placed on the end precluding it's use in many power strips, UPS units, and outlets.
No excuse for the power cord brick other than inadequate field testing prior to release and no standby mode is laughable when you claim to be GREEN.
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I bought the Vizio Razor to replace our 13" Sony in our kitchen. After looking at several different TV's I decided to buy the Vizio Razor. The picture was very good, and I had heard that Vizio was a good brand. The problems started shortly after I got it hooked up and turned on. After being on for about 2 minutes it went to a blue screen with a message of "No Signal". I tried another TV in the house and the signal was fine. After playing with the menu features I was finally able to get the picture back. This happened again later that evening, and I was again able to get the picture back after going into the menu feature. Then it happened again the next day, but I could not ever get the blue screen to go away this time. What little time it did work correctly I found 2 annoying problems. The sound quality was very poor. It sounded like it was coming out of a tin can. Also the remote would only work if you were standing directly in front of the TV. Needless to say I took it back to the store for a refund yesterday and will not be buying another Vizio. It's a shame because it is a good looking TV with a great picture.
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When I had this TV for the first week, it was great. I primarily used it for my PS3 since I needed a TV on my desk. The picture quality is simply AMAZING. Once you go to LED you never want to go back to CCFL-LCD. But things turned bad after a week when I started seeing dust build up behind the glass panel. While it is not noticeable from far away, to a person who constantly sits no more than 2 feet away, you will see that dust building up on the sides. I highly do not recommend this product. You would think that they seal the glass panels so no particles can get in. Wrong. The back has these vents that ultimately can lead to the sides of the glass panel inside. This is such a lame design. Look Elsewhere.
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This set was a Christmas gift. My husband and I are now on our third attempt to set up this TV with a DISH non HD receiver. We have contacted Vizio tech support twice. Clearly Vizio is unfamiliar with how to set up this set with a satellite box. They put us on hold for so long the menu set up screen (which stays up for less than 2 seconds, so you'd better be prepared to make a decision on how to proceed FAST) is long gone and we have to begin all over again. We have to use the menu screen for set up because we went 1 step too far in the initial set up and the Vizio set up program will NOT let you go back a screen. If you make any changes after what they consider to be initial set up, you must use the complicated and short time on the screen menu....If I could find a way to return this TV I certainly would have before now. DISH network has been terrific but they can only go so far and have told us the rest is up to Vizio tech support. We have 3 other LCD tv's (Insignia from Best Buy, Samsung and LG) and they set up in less than 5 mintutes and were a breeze to operate. This is a first class nightmare and it may soon be up for sale for whatever we can get for it....Since we have not been able to get a picture I cannot comment on any aspect of this set other than the horrific and antique set up program.....
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You pay $220 for a Tv (That is how much I paid at Costco) and you expect a space Shuttle. Who cares if it takes 3 seconds for the channel to change. If you are that busy and do not have 3 seconds, you shouldn't be watching Tv to begin with. Good Night and Good Luck.
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